As the House votes Wednesday on a GOP plan that would extend the nation's borrowing authority into May, there is much more going on behind the scenes than just simple talk about raising the debt limit, as Republican leaders try to regroup on the budget.
"It’s time for us to come to a plan that will in fact balance the budget over the next 10 years," said Speaker John Boehner, trying to reassure conservatives that they will force a fight over spending in coming weeks in the Congress.
What it boils down to is pretty simple - Republicans realize they aren't getting anywhere right now in a showdown with the President over not raising the debt limit, so they will allow the debt ceiling to go up and use that extra time to better focus their arguments on spending.
Still, the idea of voting to basically let the Treasury Department borrow what it wants to borrow between now and mid-May is tough for some Republicans to swallow.
"I'm not persuaded yet," said Rep. Justin Amash (R-MI), "but I'm open minded."
"I can't get to "Yes" yet," said freshmen Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY).
The reluctance of those who are demanding immediate budget cuts wasn't lost on more veteran Republicans.
"There's still a lot of uncertainty about, well, you're giving him (the President) a blank check," said Rep. Lynn Westmoreland (R-GA), who said he would stick with GOP leaders on this debt limit vote.
The basic Republican strategy that is evolving is this:
* Delay the fight over the debt limit into May
* Develop a plan to replace some of the automatic budget cuts for the military that hit in early March
* If no deal can be cut on the sequester, then just let the automatic budget cuts hit and reduce the baseline for discretionary spending to $974 billion from $1.047 trillion
* Look aggressively for additional cuts before a stop gap budget for the federal government runs out in late March
* Put together a GOP budget plan that balances the budget in ten years
The argument from Speaker Boehner and other GOP leaders is that rank and file Republicans should put all of that together and vote for the debt limit extension now, to give their party a better shot at winning the public argument over spending.
While some down in the food chain the GOP see that thought process, they also feel like GOP leaders need to understand that this strategic retreat better work.
"I believe there will be hell to pay if they squander this," said Rep. David Schweikert (R-AZ).
"It's kind of a chess game," said Rep. Westmoreland, "and we hope we're moving our pieces in the right direction."
Step one will be approving this debt limit plan, and sending it to an uncertain future in the Senate.
Step two will be actually voting for budget cuts.
